Ricky Berens, three-time Olympic medalist and American Record Holder, is a guy you want to meet. He’s a swimmer’s swimmer, with twenty years invested in the sport and hard-fought incremental improvements through good ol’ fashioned honest work. Sure, he’s already won two Olympic gold medals over two Olympic Games, but, based on recent events, he’s only getting started!
Ricky Berens, Olympic Champion
Berens has been lighting up the pool in the last few weeks. His 200 freestyle American Record is brand new, set at the 2013 American Short Course Championships. (Watch VIDEO of his 1:31.31 200 free record breaking performance here!)
Berens’ star is rising and we expect him to emerge as a Team USA leader heading into the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
How can you win an exclusive visit from the Olympic Champion?
Host an official USA Swimming Foundation Swim-a-Thon™ in 2013 and your team will be automatically entered into a contest designed to create some mind-blowing team spirit, extreme levels of competition and a chance to win an exclusive visit from Ricky Berens!
USA Swimming Foundation’s Swim-a-Thon™ has become an institution in the sport of swimming, a go-to means of raising funds for your club or team. In 2012, swim clubs that hosted a USA Swimming Foundation Swim-a-Thon™ using TeamUnify’s easy-to-use online fundraising platform raised an average of $13,275 per team!
It has never been easier to host a Swim-a-Thon™, and the prizes have never been better. With a full array of unique Swim-a-Thon™ Deck Pass patches, and prizes including swim caps, swim duffels and hoodies, kids across the nation are more excited than ever to be raising money for their swim teams.
For more information, and to find out how your team can meet Ricky, please click here.
MORE DETAILS VIA USA SWIMMING FOUNDATION
The rules are simple!
Host a USA Swimming Foundation Swim-a-Thon™ between January and November 2013, and you are automatically entered into our 2013 Swim-a-Thon™ Contest! Not interested? No worries. You can always opt out.
Here’s how it works: Host a USA Swimming Foundation Swim-a-Thon™ and earn points for dollars raised. Don’t forget to check out our Official Rules to learn how you can earn some easy bonus points, and we mean VERY easy. Clubs will compete against each other to get the most points.
How do you win? If your club has the most points in your category, then you’re a Gold Medal winner! To keep the contest fair, categories are based on the size of your club. The category winners are called Gold Medal winners because who doesn’t want to go for the gold?
What do Gold Medal winners get? Pretty epic prizes! Including an entry into the Grand Prize drawing, a customized Deck Pass Patch for your club or team, a feature article in USA Swimming’s Splash magazine, $200 in Visa gift cards AND a gift certificate to a pizza joint to host a really sweet team party!
And that’s not all! One Gold Medal winner will be randomly drawn, and if your team or club is chosen, then you’ll receive the Grand Prize – a personal visit from Olympic gold medalist Ricky Berens! But wait…there’s more! As the Grand Prize winner you’ll also receive one free year of licensing fees to SwimOffice Team Management™, compliments of TeamUnify!
Are you ready to host a USA Swimming Foundation Swim-a-Thon™ this year? Click here to get started now!
Gold Medal winners will be announced February 10, 2014, and the Grand Prize Winner will be drawn on February 15, 2014.
See Official Contest Rules for all the details and to start fundraising your way to new levels of athlete participation, excitement and revenue in 2013!
Swim-a-Thon™ is a registered trademark of the USA Swimming Foundation. In order to host a pledge-for-length swimming event, participating organizations must sign a contract with the USA Swimming Foundation. Participating teams agree to pay a nominal fee to the USA Swimming Foundation of 5% of the gross revenue from your Swim-a-Thon™ event. The fee that is paid to the USA Swimming Foundation supports its mission to save lives and build champions—in the pool and in life.
ABOUT THE USA SWIMMING FOUNDATION
The USA Swimming Foundation raises funds to support programs that save lives and build champions–in the pool and in life.
As the philanthropic arm of USA Swimming, the USA Swimming Foundation works to strengthen the sport from grassroots to gold medals. Whether we’re equipping our children with learn-to-swim skills, or providing financial support to our heroes on the U.S. National Team, the USA Swimming Foundation is dedicated to supporting the pursuit of excellence in our sport and aims to provide the wonderful experience of swimming to kids at all levels across the country.
The USA Swimming Foundation also serves as the home for our U.S. National and Olympic Team Alumni reunions and regional events.
We invite our friends and fans across the country to help us achieve our goals by getting involved as a donor, fundraiser, event attendee or volunteer.
Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a USA Swimming Foundation Ambassador.